Spanish protesters demand overhaul

Tens of thousands of demonstrators across Spain continued sit-ins and other protests against the established political parties yesterday, defying a ban against such protests and ahead of regional and municipal elections.

About 28,000 people, most of them young, spent Friday night in Puerta del Sol, a square in downtown Madrid, police said. The demonstrators stayed even as the protest ban went into effect at midnight under rules that bring an official end to campaigning before the election in 13 of Spain’s 17 regions and more than 8000 municipalities.

Fuelling their anger is a perceived failure by politicians to alleviate the hardships of a struggling population. Spain’s unemployment rate is 21 per cent.

As well as economic complaints, protesters are demanding an improved judiciary, the end of political corruption, and an overhaul of the electoral structure – notably by ending the system in which candidates are selected internally by the parties before an election rather than chosen directly by voters.

The protests, which started on May 15, have spread gradually across the country. Spaniards based overseas have also held protests in front of their embassies to show their support for an alternative campaign that has almost eclipsed that of the established parties.

Although some protest groups have called for people to vote for smaller and alternative parties, or to cast a blank ballot, there were concerns the demonstrations could lead to a decline in voter turnout. In elections four years ago, 63 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots.

Yesterday’s election was expected to result in a countrywide sweep by the People’s Party, the main centre-right opposition, at the expense of the governing Socialist Party, whose popularity has plummeted because of the economic crisis. Opinion polls suggested the Socialists could lose in areas where it has been in power since Spain’s return to democracy in the late 1970s.

Whatever the outcome, Prime Minister
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
announced last month he would not seek a third term, paving the way for the selection of a new Socialist leader before the general election, which is expected in March next year.

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As the campaign ban came into force at midnight, many protesters in Madrid stuck tape across their mouths to signal they would continue the demonstration, even if ordered to be silent. “The voice of the people can never be illegal," read some banners, while others argued, “We are not against the system but the system is against us."

Still, the government suggested it would not order the police to use force to break up the protests, especially given that the demonstrations had not generated any violence. ­Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said “the police are there to solve problems and not create new ones".